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EU Commission proposes to extend border controls in 5 Schengen states

Xinhua, January 26, 2017 Adjust font size:

The European Commission on Wednesday recommended the European Council to allow five Schengen states to extend internal border controls for another three months as the bloc was still under high migratory pressure, according to a Commission statement.

The temporary border checks -- currently in place at certain borders in Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway -- was last extended on Nov. 11 and due to expire on Feb. 11.

"Significant progress has been made to lift internal border controls, but we need to solidify it further," the Commission's First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said.

"This is why we recommend allowing the member states concerned to maintain temporary border controls for a further three months," he said.

The Commission said a significant number of irregular migrants and asylum seekers still remained in Greece and the situation remained fragile on the Western Balkans route.

The Schengen area includes 26 European countries that have abolished passports and any other type of border control at their mutual borders.

However, border checks have become the norm in parts of the Schengen area that saw massive influx of migrants in 2015. Endit